Linda M. Frisse

TL;DR: It is suggested that animal parasitism arose independently at least four times, and plant parasitism three times, which indicates that convergent morphological evolution may be extensive and that present higher-level classification of the Nematoda will need revision.

TL;DR: It is shown that D2/D3 sequence data provide an important new diagnostic tool for addressing various types of diagnostic and taxonomic problems at species level, and it is shown the left-handed strains PS1158 and PS2160 are identified as Acrobeloides bodenheimeri and the right-handed strain PS2052 is identified as A. camberenensis, which is re-instated as a valid species.

TL;DR: The first example of a vulval cell lineage that is asymmetric between the anterior and the posterior sides of the vulva is described, and it is concluded that in this group, death of the Pn.p cells probably constitutes a derived character state compared to a syncytial fate.

TL;DR: This work has obtained direct estimates of the spectrum of microsatellite mutations in two model systems: the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the microcrustacean Daphnia pulex, and shows that the per-cell-division mutation rate appears to be elevated in multicellular species.

TL;DR: The results suggest that a new mechanism for axis specification evolved in an ancestor of some of the relatives of C. elegans, suggesting that this fundamental step in development can evolve without affecting other aspects of development.